Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh: Book Review

Eileen, the narrator of this story is an old woman in her seventies who reflects on the events in her life when she was twenty four- the events that changed her life. In the book the writer has described very dark life of a very sad and lonely girl in need of a touch of warmth and a streak of affection. The life of the young desolate girl is so miserably pathetic that one gets touched and saddened as one comes to terms with the dark depths of a defenseless girl tormented by her own father, who is alcoholic and elder sister who constantly ridicules her till she disappears. Broken internally, Eileen lives a resigned life fantasizing to run away somewhere till the day she meets Rebecca.

A must read we give the book a 17 in a scale of 20.

The Sellout by Paul Beatty

The Sellout is a modern comedy on the post racial society of America. In a gripping and gushing flow of words, the book in a satirical way is a brilliant work of the effects of lost identities in a post racial world. The protagonist finds himself in a world where his hometown, Dickens, is removed from the map. Facing an identity crisis the along with an assortment of powerful characters tries to resurrect the town and also bring back segregation and ends up in Supreme Court in a case involving Me versus US smoking marijuana and narrating in first person about himself and the lost town and its people waiting for the final judgement.

The book is a hilarious comedy with plenty of sadness. Ina scale of 20 we give it 17.5.

All That Man Is by David Szalay

'All That Man Is' is a collection of nine stories of nine different people across thirteen countries of Europe including UK. Although the nine stories are not directly connected or knitted yet it gives an impression of nine different stages of a man (across ages i.e.) in modern world grappling with all the ills, love, loneliness and financial meltdowns while travelling through Europe. The writer has brilliantly captured the dull everyday life with very impressive character development and perfect description of the feelings associated with transient moments. The book being basically nine different stories, one is tempted to put down the book after finishing each story but then one does eventually return back to finish the book, such is the style of writing.

n a scale of 20 we give it 17.5.

His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet

The book is engrossing right from the beginning. It takes the reader to Scotland village of the 19th Century riddled with enmity between two families and related oppressiveness and hardships in the contemporary times. The presentation and characterization is excellent as is the trial and inquiry of the lead character who pleads guilty of the multiple killings. It is a book exploring definition of sane and insane and the intricacies of relationships in a family after the death of the mother of the lead character. This book is highly recommended and it scores a 10 out of ten.

Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien

The story of a family panning across three generations and continents through war ravaged China, Mao's China and progressing on wards till the modern day with a climax at Tiananman Square the book has been written in a free flow style with the write drifting with ease from the present across decades yet never going offtrack. Another brilliance of the writer's mesmerizing style is through the use of music compositions and the lives of composers and musicians. The book has multiple characters yet all orchestrated through hardships into a nicely knitted story. The book is a very intelligent work and surely is a must read. In a scale of 20 we give it a 19.5.

Hot Milk by Deborah Levy

Sofia has abandoned her pursuit of a doctoral degree in Anthropology because of her mother Rose's strange illness which has been a mystery for her all her life. The story begins in Spain where she comes with her mother to Dr Gomez - a last chance to cure her mother's paralyzed legs. 

Amidst Dr Gomez's strange methods, Rose's complaints Sofia discovers herself and her deep desires as she meets amazing characters Juan, Ingrid, and Julieta, in Spain and travels to Greece to meet her step mother four years elder to her, her step sister and her father who had abandoned her when she was 14. The book is written in a powerful and exciting way in Sofia's voice as she discovers the true ailment that had entrapped her old mother and her adult life.

The book was in the short list of Man Booker prize 2016.

In a scale of 10 we give it 9.5. It is a compelling hard to put down novel involving psychological complications of ailing mother - ailing daughter relationship.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

When breath becomes air is a memoir of Paul Kalanithi, a young neurosurgeon, written by himself as he transforms from a doctor to a patient. At the age of 35, after long grueling and arduous years of medical training and education just when Paul is about to embark on a much sought after career and future, he is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

The book is about two aspects of his life. In the first part it is about how he grew up reading poetry and literature and obtaining degrees in Literature and how he finally ended up finding his vocation in neurology in search for meaning. The second part is of him being a patient grappling with his dreams vanishing.

Written with a need to be truthful, this memoir is definitely a must read. In a scale of 10 we give it an 8.5